Elevator Escapades
by Bumbledbee
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy is late and attempts to close the elevator door on Rose. Scorpius fails. Rose pushes all the elevator buttons in retaliation. They are now in an elevator that stops every floor. Elevator escapades ensue. (AU)


My arms were going to give way any moment now. My fingers were slipping and I could feel a drop of sweat sliding down my spine.

 _Happiness can be found, even in the darkest times, if one only remembers to turn on the light._

A quote everyone who went to Dumbledore University knew if only because Dumbledore's quotes were placed strategically around the campus.

Well where was the bleeding light switch when you needed one? And what were you supposed to do if you didn't have a spare hand to turn it on?!

I gritted my teeth, I just needed to dig deep and hang in there for another couple of seconds. Damn, but my muscles ached….

I tucked my chin over the edge of my top book to keep it from toppling over and broke into an undignified half walk, half jog. There was no denying that I must've looked ridiculous with my head bent at an unnatural angle, back stooped over a tower of books, and legs lunging forward in an effort to move as quickly, yet smoothly as possible. But I'd definitely look even more ridiculous if I dropped my stack of library books in the middle of the busiest building of the university, so I surged forward.

The elevators appeared as I rounded the corner and I almost wept in relief. I was so close.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walk into the elevator and some of the tension left my body. Surely he'd hold the door open for me and buy me those precious few seconds that I desperately needed.

I was going to make it.

So what if my neck was never the same again? Life's all about give and take, right?

I looked up for a millisecond to make sure that I wasn't going to run into anything only to catch a glimpse of the doors sliding close and the guy furtively and rather frantically pushing what could only be the close button.

My jaw fell open sideways onto my textbook, _how dare he!_ Couldn't he see that I was struggling?! And to think that I'd thought he was going to hold the door open for me! With a ferocity that could only be derived from betrayal, I charged headlong at the elevator.

Well, to be completely honest, it was probably more sidelong, because my head was bent at what was now quite an alarming angle. My shoulder rammed painfully into the door as it attempted to close on me, but with outrage fuelling my entire being, I forced myself through the opening.

I barely had time to relish the horrified look on the guy's face as I burst through, because the books had finally had enough of being jolted around and cascaded from my arms and onto the floor.

Then it was my turn to be horrified. All those precious books from the reserve section, bent out of shape! With the spines stretching away from yellowing pages, and corners sticking upwards, I could already see permanent creases forming… A dismayed whimper escaped from my lips- they'd never be the same again!

My gaze snapped up to the guy who'd flattened himself up against the wall to avoid the avalanche of heavy books and my eyes narrowed.

It was all his fault.

The spark of anger reignited within me. Clenching my jaw and levelling him with a death glare, I smushed my hands viciously up and down the buttons on the right side of the elevator, making sure I maintained eye contact with him the entire time.

I snuck a quick look at the panel to check that all the buttons were now lit up before turning back to him with a smug smile and a challenging stare.

His mouth had dropped open as disbelief and disdain battled for dominance on his face.

I merely quirked an eyebrow as if to say, yes I really did just do that. What are you going to do about it?

The guy finally closed his mouth, only to open it again a second later. He then thought better of it and ran a hand through his hair instead. Eventually he waved his arms at me, "Really?"

The elevator glided to a stop and the doors opened at level one.

Two pairs of eyes slid to the panel of buttons totalling 22 and the beginnings of regret started creeping up on me. Okay, so maybe I hadn't thought it through…but what kind of jerk presses the close button when he sees someone running towards the elevator with a stack of heavy books in her arms?!

"You started it." I said mulishly, refusing to make eye contact

Silence.

"Wow." His words dripping with disdain, "What are you, _five?"_

"43 actually, but thanks for the compliment." I shot back, and I swore I saw a flicker of surprise and a quirk of his lips. "What kind of guy deliberately closes the door when he sees someone struggling and clearly needs to catch the elevator?"

The quirk was gone, replaced with a stony glare. "A guy who's running late to his mid-semester exam."

The elevator pinged as we arrived at level two.

 _Oh._

As someone who cared about academics, I could unfortunately relate to his plight.

But still, he'd purposefully tried to close the doors on me! I had to stay strong. I looked at the books still strewn across the floor like a crime scene. He didn't even seem to care that the floor was littered with literature of the highest order, and that he'd been the cause of it! A complete cad through and through! Plus, my shoulder was still stinging from the impact of the elevator door. (Not to mention, my ego.) My resolve returned with renewed strength.

"Well, what about the girl whose arms are about to drop off because she's carrying 10kg worth of books?" I shot back defiantly.

He was having none of it, "Well maybe that girl should've brought a bag to carry them in!"

"Well, maybe you should just take the stairs to your precious little exam." I replied mockingly.

"Well, _maybe_ I don't want to die of heatstroke and exhaustion by the time I get to floor 22." He responded with equal hostility.

Hmph sassy bloke, wasn't he? It was 32 degrees today though; I'd give him that. But if he thought I was going to back down, he was very wrong. "Well, then maybe you should've planned ahead and not allowed yourself to be late in the first place!"

"Well, maybe you could have just put your precious books down and waited for the next elevator!"

"Well, maybe you could have gotten fit and trained yourself to run up 22 floors without breaking a sweat."

"Well, maybe _you_ could have gotten fit and trained yourself to carry 10kg of books without your arms dropping off."

"Well, maybe you could've trained yourself not to be a dick!"

A stunned silence.

(Okay, maybe that wasn't my best comeback ever.)

"Wow." He forced out a false laugh. "Once again, I cannot believe you are not five."

I returned the false laugh without missing a beat, "Well, once again, thank you, I'll pass on your compliments to my plastic surgeon."

I met his withering glare with my own, like hell was I backing down first.

But then his lip quivered.

And my eyes crinkled.

And then our laughter was reverberating around the elevator.

"What just happened?" He gasped, clutching his stomach.

"I have no idea." I replied through peals of laughter, "We're ridiculous."

"I'm sorry I was a dick." He wheezed, grabbing the wall for stability.

"Yeah me, too." I panted back, trying to regain control of my breathing.

He stuck out his hand, "I'm Scorpius."

"Rose." I grasped it, "Are you really going to be late for your mid-sem?"

That sobered him up pretty quickly.

He glanced down at his phone and sighed, "I have one minute to get there, but hopefully my lecturer will take at least another five minutes to go through exam instructions."

"Yeah, hopefully." I echoed, remorse rising up in full now.

"How's your shoulder?" Scorpius asked, "You hit it pretty hard on the way in."

Grateful for the change of topic, I gave my arm an experimental swing. "It kind of throbs and it will probably bruise, but there's not much I can do about it now." I bent down to pick up a fallen book, "These books, however…"

"Yeah, these guys look a little worse for wear." He grimaced, stooping down to help.

"I'm never going to be allowed to borrow anything from the library again." I said mournfully, smoothing my hand over a cover in a vain attempt to flatten it.

"Better ace this assignment then, hey?" Scorpius said with a grin, taking the book from me and placing it on top of the rest now piled neatly in a corner.

I opened my mouth to inform him that the use of the library wasn't only employed when assignments needed to be written, but before I could, the elevator pinged again and the door opened to reveal Hermione Granger.

"Mum?" I asked incredulously, eyes bugging out of my head. "What are you doing at here?"

"Oh, hello dear," My mother swept in with a smile, "I'm giving a guest lecture on human rights in the law, did I forget to tell you?"

"Um yeah," I replied bluntly, still blinking at her. Remembering that Scorpius was also in the elevator, I turned to introduce her but hesitated when I saw the expression on his face. It could only have been described as star struck, and his head was whipping between the two of us as if he was attempting to connect the dots.

"Hermione Granger?" He finally managed to splutter out.

"Guilty as charged." My mother quipped.

I groaned internally; there were only so many lawyer jokes one could take.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy," Scorpius breathed, "I'm a law student at Dumbledore University and I just want to say that studying the pivotal case of _S.P.E.W v the Ministry_ was truly life changing. The work you've done for social justice is inspiring and it's an absolute honour to meet you."

My mother flushed, "Oh, well that's very kind of you! Thank you so much."

"I can only hope to follow in your footsteps once I finish my degree." Scorpius continued earnestly.

"After you finish your degree?" My mother asked, "If you're interested in social justice, there are many things you can begin doing right now."

"Well, I'm currently president of S.P.E.W at university, but I always feel like I could be doing more." He explained earnestly.

"Are you now?" My mum looked at Scorpius with new eyes, "Well, I'd be more than happy to give you some advice!"

I was now the one glancing between the two with increasing disbelief. First my mum was at my university, and now she was having an in depth conversation about animal welfare rights with the boy I'd just spent the past five minutes arguing with. What was going on with the world?

Oh and I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but with his devil may care demeanour that seemed to bely an affinity to leaning coolly against motorcycles rather than handing out fliers for S.P.E.W, Scorpius had been the last person I'd expected to get passionate about social justice and all but fanboy over my mum. _My mum._ It was all to weird.

I jolted out of my reverie when I realised the other two occupants of the elevator were staring at me expectantly. "I'm sorry, what?"

My mother rolled her eyes, "I was just saying that I have to get off the next level, but seeing as you're friends with Scorpius here, you can pass on his contact details to me and we can get in touch."

Friends? Pass on details? I blinked at her disbelievingly before side eying Scorpius who was staring at me beseechingly. I managed to restrain myself from balking too obviously. Was he seriously doing puppy eyes at me?! I ripped my gaze away from him in disgust. How dare he think it would work on me! Just because he had nice grey eyes…

"Fine." I snapped, before catching myself. "I mean, fine, it would be my pleasure." I pasted on a smile for good measure, "Good luck with your guest lecture."

"Thanks, Rose. I probably won't make it home for dinner, but there's food in the fridge for you and Hugo." My mother stepped out of the elevator, "Lovely to meet you, Scorpius."

The doors closed and I rounded on Scorpius, "What was that about?"

"Your mum's Hermione Granger!" Scorpius exclaimed with equal disbelief, " _The_ Hermione Granger."

"Um, yeah." I replied.

"I just talked to Hermione Granger." He beamed at me.

I couldn't help but grin bemusedly back at him, "Yeah, you did."

Scorpius reclined against the wall, "I could die happy. Who cares if I fail this exam? I just met Hermione Granger, only the best thing to ever happen to the Department of Law Enforcement!"

I could only nod at him.

Suddenly his blissful smile drooped a little, "You will give her my details, won't you?"

"Yeah, sure." I shrugged, I didn't see why not.

His grin was back in full force. It was a little dazzling, if I was being completely honest. Who would've thought that the guy who was all stormy stares and surly sarcasm was capable of being so disarming? "Thanks, friend." He shot me a cheeky grin.

I stared; maybe it was just a case of resting bitch face. This couldn't be the same guy. I handed him my phone, "Alright, put your details in."

I took this opportunity to observe him shamelessly. I tried to picture him with glasses; perhaps he was more the leaning broodily against a bookshelf type of guy. But for some reason I could only picture that if he was pressing a girl up against the bookshelf. Blergh, I didn't need the image.

No, still easier to imagine him with aviators and a motorcycle.

Maybe a leather jacket carelessly slung over one shoulder.

"Do you mind if I ring my phone?" Scorpius hesitated, "Just, you know, in case I've put it in wrong or something."

My eyebrows raised on their own volition. No, motorcycle wasn't quite right either. His brow creased far too endearingly for that image to work. "Yeah, no worries."

"Thanks." He gave me a grateful smile. "Sorry, I'm not usually like this, but _Hermione Granger_." He said, as if that explained everything.

Yeah, definitely not a motorcycle.

But who was I to say that people who rode motorcycles didn't also get fired up about human rights? Who was I to try and pigeon hole him into some stereotype? People are complex beings and there was nothing to say he couldn't be both!

It was fun to imagine though…

I didn't get the chance to finish that train of thought, because the door pinged open again and a herd of high school boys charged in.

I could only stand back and watch in horror.

"Stop!" A harried teacher shouted from outside the elevator, "Boys, you can't all fit. Stop! We'll take the next one!"

As another bunch of boisterous boys tried to barrel their way in, my mind turned to my books, my precious books stacked so neatly in the corner. I hustled over in attempt to save them from the hurricane of hooligans, but was jostled around so violently that I gave up almost immediately and sought refuge against the closest wall.

A particularly persistent youth snuck in by the skin of his teeth and I found myself plastered against Scorpius in an attempt to accommodate his girth.

The doors closed shut with a groan and the unmistakable stench of sweaty 15 year old boys settled in.

I gagged. Sweet baby Jesus, hadn't they ever heard of deodorant?

Thinking only of escaping the odour, I pressed my nose against Scorpius' shirt and inhaled. I was rewarded with the crisp smell of his washing detergent and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. I exhaled in deep satisfaction.

Scorpius shifted and looked down at me, "That tickles."

"Sorry, but you smell a lot better than those guys." I replied unthinkingly.

"Oh, okay." He said before I could blush, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that I was sniffing him. "Carry on then, at least one of us can breathe. Catch me if I faint, won't you?"

"Yeah, no wor-ow!" I glared at the boy who'd accidentally elbowed me in the ribs, "Do you min- hey!" Somebody else had knocked into my shoulder.

I twisted around to pierce the boys with my fiercest glower, "This is an elevator, not a playground! Cut it out!" My brother had always said I'd be a terrifying teacher.

"Sorry." One boy apologised sheepishly and I turned around, slightly mollified.

Well, I was until a ball whizzed across the elevator, rebounded off the wall and smacked me in the head.

My jaw locked.

I desperately wanted to rub my head, but I refused to give them the satisfaction. Instead, I turned slowly to face the culprits and give them the grilling of their lives.

Scorpius beat me to it, "Seriously guys, knock it off."

Well. That wasn't quite the wording I had been planning on using, but the angry tirade that had been about to burst from my lips died in my throat as I felt him gently grasp my waist and turn me so that my back was to the wall and our positions were reversed.

I looked up at him in surprise, "Thanks."

Scorpius waved off my thanks, but then found that there was no where to put his hand now that he'd dislodged it from between his side and the boy's next to him. He let it hang in the air for a moment, before bracing it on the wall behind my head.

And then he was suddenly very close.

Oh God, way too close.

Damn him for smelling so good.

And where was I supposed to look? I couldn't stare at his eyes, that was way too intimate. Not at his lips, too tempting- I mean, not tempting! Just too forward- NO. I wouldn't be being too forward, because there was nothing to be forward about! It was just too…too…

Bloody hell.

Neck was safe right?

It's not like I was a vampire or anything like that. Nothing tempting about his neck.

NOT that his lips were tempting or anything.

But goddammit, his neck was lightly tanned and bled into a well-defined jawline, and GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF, ROSE.

I let out a frustrated huff and leant my head roughly back against the wall. The lack of oxygen in this cramped space was clearly making me loopy.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius ducked his head to look at me and damn that concerned look in his eyes. Why was he so nice anyway?

"EW!" Get a room!" A boy exclaimed in disgust from behind us.

Scorpius jolted back and his head whipped around to confront the boy, "We're not doing anything, you little sh-!" He caught himself.

Apparently, he'd had enough of being jostled around like a sack of potatoes as well.

"Yeah, yeah" Taunted another boy, leering rather unattractively.

"Don't be jealous that you're not the one pressed up against a pretty girl." Scorpius shot back.

That shut them all up very quickly.

Me included.

My mind had already gone into overdrive; did he just imply that I was pretty? That the boys were jealous of him? That being pressed up against me was something they should be envious of?!

I braved a quick glance up at Scorpius to find a light blush dusting the tops of his cheekbones. He was staring fixatedly at the wall beside my head.

This was too much for me to handle. Generally as a person I already had very little chill, and this was just too much.

And why wasn't there any ventilation in this bloody elevator? It was far too warm in here.

Fortunately I only had to endure a few more beats of stifling silence before the doors pinged open at level 17 and the boys tumbled out.

Scorpius stepped away from me and I could finally breathe again.

"Thank God they're gone." He remarked a little stiffly.

"Yeah." I agreed, "Kids these days, right?

"Why are they even here?" He asked.

"Not sure, maybe they had an information session or something."

Scorpius nodded and with that topic exhausted, a silence fell like a curtain between us.

"Well, I'm going to get off this next one. I think I'll run up the last four flights of stairs. It will be quicker." Scorpius said finally.

"Oh, yeah." I replied, nodding. "Good idea."

Scorpius stuffed his hands into his pockets, "It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise," I smiled, relief and disappointment colliding together at the thought of his departure. "I'll make sure I pass your details onto my mother."

His grin widened, "Thanks, I really appreciate it."

Scorpius stepped out of the door, only to reach back in to stop the door from closing. "Um, just by the way. Who's Hugo?"

"Huh?" I asked eloquently.

Scorpius flushed, but he pushed on, "Your mum, she mentioned a Hugo?"

"Oh," I recalled the previous conversation, "he's my brother."

Something akin to relief washed over Scorpius' face and the dazzling grin was back in full force. "Great." He released his hold on the door and took a step back. "Great, well I'll see you around, Rose."

I could only stare as the doors closed.

Well that was weird.

Wait.

No.

Surely not.

…

Could he have thought that Hugo was my boyfriend?

Had he wondered whether I was single or not?!

Pfft, no. Don't get ahead of yourself, Rose.

But despite the rational part of my brain demanding that I rein it in immediately, I was suddenly fighting a grin that was slowly but surely making its way across my face. And try as I might, I just couldn't wipe it off.

This was rather unfortunate, because I think I quite unsettled the two girls who got into the elevator next by beaming at them upon their entry. To make matters worse one was comforting the other about her failed grade and I couldn't stop grinning like a loon.

I looked down at the number in my phone under Scorpius Malfoy.

My mum would definitely be contacting him.

* * *

Hey lovely readers!

Hope you enjoyed this one :)

The elevator premise was based on a prompt from Tumblr. [Warning: shameless plug] If you'd like to ask me anything, suggest an idea or just have a chat, my username over there is 'Bumbledbeee'. If not, then carry on your merry way :)

And by merry way, I'm referring to how you were obviously going to leave a review. Haha, just kidding, you don't have to if you don't want to, just do whatever floats your boat.

And by floats your boat I mean- okay I'll stop now

...

...

You know what to do.


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